Singer John Mellencamp, in his song, You’ve Got to Stand for
Somethin’, sings,
“You’ve got to stand for something
or you’re gonna fall for anything.”
The Biblical interpretation of that is,
“Do not quench the Spirit;...But examine everything
carefully;” 1 Thessalonians 5:19; 21.
The desire in every human being to obtain answers that suit
us or seem good to us goes back to the very beginning. Just as Adam
and Eve did, we, too, crave to extrapolate the expertise of someone else so that
we, too, can become experts.
"You will not certainly die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:4-5
But again, the question I asked in the last post, “What if
the statistics change?” reappears. Only this time the question, as a result of
changing facts, now becomes "What happens when the experts’ thinking
changes?"
Or even more likely, what if a more appealing, sexy,
wholesome, easier-to-swallow expert comes along? Now whom will we follow?
“For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as
God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their
foolish heart was darkened.” Romans 1:21
Now, doesn’t this sound like Adam and Eve? I mean, you can
call them a “metaphor,” but then, what do you call people alive today who do
the very same thing? Are people today also just “metaphors?”
The point of the Romans verse is that, outside of God, we
will fall for anything, just like Adam and Eve did. Believe me when I say that
the book of Genesis is quite up to date and current.
God is the only unchanging “expert.”
“...God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the
promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that
by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who
have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set
before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and
steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a
forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order
of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 6:17-20
God knew this. That's why He sent Christ.
“This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the
world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were
evil.” John 3:19
We don’t normally consider worldly seeking of knowledge as
evil. But it is evil in that it keeps us from the Light of Christ.
See, as long as man goes to the serpent, the “experts,” man
is kept in ignorance, and oftentimes, keeps or leads others into ignorance as
well.
Seeking after human “wisdom” and worldliness hardens hearts,
blocking the spiritual maturity and wisdom in Christ.
And we have ample proof of that everywhere, even in one
recent NBC affiliate headline that seems to have thrown in the towel and
finally and simply declared,
“Major Depression on the Rise Among Everyone, New
Data Shows.”
Time and time again, I offer free counseling in Christ to
organizations and individuals who only want to throw more government money at
problems, hitting the repeat button on their “solution” to every issue under
the sun.
They flat out reject all Christian offers, while saying in press conferences and
in interviews to the media,
“We’ll do anything to solve this issue.”
Anything but Christ.
Adam and Eve listened to and were swayed by the convincing
dialogue of Satan, who appeared to them to be quite the expert.
People today are no different: willing to submit
unquestioningly to human authority and human authority’s money, in an endless,
futile cycle of insane false hope. And it will never bear fruit because it is
outside of the just and righteous way God organized the world:
And God said,
"Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" Genesis 3:11
"Then the LORD God said to the woman, 'What is this you have done?'
The woman said, 'The serpent deceived me, and I ate.'" Genesis 3:13
"Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." 1 Corinthians 1:20-25
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in
unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them;
for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His
invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly
seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without
excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give
thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart
was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory
of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of
birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.” Romans 1:18-23
Tomorrow I will look at how human influence infiltrates
Christian community.
copyright Barb Harwood
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